Over the River and Through the Woods
Over the River and Through the Woods is the fourth episode of Mobile Suit Gundam 0080. It was first released in Japan on June 25, 1989 and first aired in North America on November 9, 2001. Synopsis The Federation soldiers walk by; Al has been able to hide himself by hiding on top of a pipe above them. He crawls back through the ventilation system where Bernie angrily awaits him. Al told Bernie he saw a mobile suit and took a picture of it. Steiner watches a newscast discussing the banning of Zeon ships from the colony following the recent battles that have taken place. Garcia heads to a bar where he meets with the bartender, giving him a coded phrase. In the back, the bartender helps him look up information on the Federation base. He gives Garcia a map and some blueprints, along with a letter for Steiner. Bernie and Al leave the factory. Bernie tells Al he's a real optimist. On the drive back Al prints out a photo of the Gundam and shows it to Bernie. Upon his return, Garcia punches Bernie for the unnecessary risk he took. Steiner has Garcia leave, to get some uniforms from the bar for them. Steiner tells Bernie to drive Al home and never pull a foolish stunt like that again. Al is in a deep sleep, and Bernie looks at some drawings of the Cyclops Team that Al has done. Instead of bringing Al to his home, he carries him to Chris's house next door. Chris tells Bernie she'll cover for him. Upon leaving, Bernie tells Chris she can call him by his first name, and she says the same. Mikhail purchases some tools while Garcia implants some bombs while posing as a repair man. Al draws a Zaku in class and one of his classmates asks him why he's drawing an enemy mobile suit. Al is surprised when his friends tell him the Zeons are the bad guys. Al proclaims the Zeon cooler. One of his classmates tells him about the famous Federation mobile suit, Gundam. Dorothy defends Al after getting criticized by his friends. Steiner sits on a bench with the bartender, Charlie, at a park. Charlie says they are just decoys and are being used to locate the Gundam. Steiner says he knows due to being assigned a rookie and no escape ship. Charlie recommends Steiner run and that the war will end soon. Steiner doesn't think they are going to win. They comment on what a nice colony it is. Bernie and Al sit on a roof. Bernie tells Al that the mobile suit they found was a Gundam. Al is convinced that he can beat it and Bernie says he has a 50/50 shot. He asks Al if Chris has talked about him at all. Later, the Cyclops Team discusses how they will go about their mission. Mikhail's mobile suit will cause a diversion while Steiner, Garcia and Bernie sneak into the base. If they can't steal the Gundam, they'll destroy it. As they prepare, Garcia tells Bernie to not get killed. Al talks to Bernie on the phone and says that thanks to Chris, he'll be able to go to the Federation base the next day. Bernie tells him to stay away from there and hangs up. Steiner and Mikhail enjoy a cigarette and some alcohol before heading out. Bernie, Steiner and Garcia head into the Federation factory, wearing Federation uniforms. Al heads to the U.N. Medical Center at the base where he meets a Dr. Richard Lunland. Lunland is being questioned by a reporter on whether his work on mechanical arms is being used for mobile suits. Bernie distracts some Federation soldiers while Garcia kills some other officers and uses their computer system. Bernie feigns an Australian accent, talking about how snow would be covering the ground this time of year. Mikhail gets up in the Kämpfer, destroying the warehouse it is contained in as he does so. Bernie, Steiner and Garcia head to where the Gundam is. A woman screams at the Kämpfer as it heads through the streets. The Federation forces prepare to take on the Kämpfer. Al talks to Dr. Lunland while playing with a mechanical arm. The Federation's forces, including some mobile suits head out to take on the Kämpfer. Lunland is contacted and Al steals his keycard. One of the Federation soldiers catches up with the Cyclops Team, having recalled that it is summer this time of year in Australia. Al uses the keycard to sneak through the base. The Cyclops team is frisked by the Federation soldiers and Garcia starts shooting them. Steiner is shot through the shoulder. A firefight ensues with Garcia taking out many soldiers but getting shot himself. Federation forces fire upon the Kämpfer, missing and hitting a school instead. The Pegasus ship Gray Phantom approaches, launching its mobile suit forces, which the Kämpfer quickly attacks. Garcia catches back up with Bernie and Steiner, who are staying behind some boxes while firing back at the Federation soldiers. Alex is told to head to the Gundam Alex and that she must fight inside the colony. Garcia tells Bernie that they can't steal the Gundam. He says he'll blow it up and to get Steiner out of here. Al watches the action from a window nearby. Garcia is shot as he approaches the Gundam and topples to the ground. He sets off the bomb, killing himself, but setting off a large explosion. Bernie picks up Steiner and leaves. Chris runs out and gets into the Gundam Alex. Al notices her, but since she's in her normal suit he doesn't recognize her. She ejects the Gundam out of the factory, avoiding the Kämpfer's blast. The Kämpfer launches a direct attack on the Gundam. Al heads outside just as the Kämpfer and Gundam start doing battle with each other. Mikhail is able to throw a series of bombs on the Gundam, which explode. To his surprise, the blast only knocks off the Gundam's armor. The Kämpfer charges the Gundam, which immediately fires directly at it with its Gatling gun, piercing its armor and killing Mikhail. The destroyed Kämpfer falls to the ground, and Al flees. The bomb that Garcia had set up before explodes, causing a breach in the colony's wall. Al is shocked to find a panicked Bernie and the wounded Steiner as he runs off. Important Events *'Characters Introduced:' Charlie, Richard Lunland *'Deceased:' Gabriel Ramirez Garcia, Mikhail Kaminsky Staff *'Script:' Hiroyuki Yamaga *'Unit Director:' Hiroyuki Yokoyama *'Animation Director:' Toshiyuki Kubooka Trivia *When describing his cover story, Bernie claims he is a native of Sydney, Australia, and immediately follows with a mention of the city being covered in snow around that time of year (December). While Bernie's cover story fails to take into consideration that Australian Decembers are actually in Summer, a bigger descrepency concerns the fact that Sydney had been obliterated by the colony drop as a result of Zeon's failed Operation British at the start of the One Year War. However, the city depicted in the colony drop would not be identified as Sydney until Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory two years later, thus causing Bernie's cover to be blown by the seasonal descrepency with no mention of the city's destruction.